Andes Central and how not to cut costs
Like the rest of the state’s school districts, Andes Central faced some tough budgetary decisions last year when the Legislature cut per-student funding by 6.6 percent.
Part of their solution was to eliminate three extra-duty positions: concession supervisor, school paper advisor and yearbook advisor. Then, the administration informed other staff members that they would be picking up these extra duties – without additional pay.
Maybe that would have been fine if these “extra duties as assigned” took place during the school day and school year, but that was not the case.
Administrative Law Judge Catherine Duenwald ruled in May – yeah, I just noticed it now – that the district must pay these folks for their extra work. She wrote:
The school has no authority to assign to teachers “other duties” when the duties are carried out beyond the school year and number of days listed in the contract. If that was the case, then the school could require the teachers to teach extra classes, coach football, give music lessons, wax floors, paint walls, and generally work during the summer without pay.